Publication: May 22, 2018, by Pamela Dorman Books
Genre: Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Drama
Pages: 320
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
Rating:
When Caroline and Francis receive an offer to house swap--from their city flat to a townhouse in a leafy, upscale London suburb--they jump at the chance for a week away from home, their son, and the tensions that have pushed their marriage to the brink.
As the couple settles in, the old problems that permeate their marriage--his unhealthy behaviors, her indiscretions--start bubbling to the surface. But while they attempt to mend their relationship, their neighbor, an intense young woman, is showing a little too much interest in their activities.
Meanwhile, Caroline slowly begins to uncover some signs of life in the stark house--signs of her life. The flowers in the bathroom or the music might seem innocent to anyone else--but to her they are clues. It seems the person they have swapped with is someone who knows her, someone who knows the secrets she's desperate to forget...
My Thoughts:
From the first time I saw this book and when I read its summary, I was intrigued. Intrigued to read a new psychological thriller, part of a genre which is becoming more and more popular to this day. I was also quite intrigued to read about this concept: house-swapping? I've never heard of anything like this, and you know, our world is getting really weird with these new concepts and ideas, such as cuddle buddies? There's literally an app where you can find someone near your location to cuddle with. WHAT? So obviously, house-swapping sounded absurd to me too, and I was so captivated to read a thriller about it. But, honestly? This book was solely about romance. Be warned: if you're seeking a well-written, suspenseful psychological thriller, this ain't it. It was definitely an entertaining story that had potential to become a really good thriller, however, it was lacking.
The House Swap was about a British couple: Caroline and Francis, who have had serious issues in the past due to Francis' personal issues. The book switches back and forth between 2013, when Caroline had an affair with a man almost a decade younger than she is to compensate for the pain Francis has caused her, and 2015, when the couple decides to head out on a trip to a London suburb. While there, Caroline begins to receive creepy emails from an unknown sender, reminding her of her forgotten past. Additionally, the house she is staying in (house-swapped, remember?) seems oddly weird.
So, initially, the premise sounds amazing—it really does. House-swapping, creepy messages and a sense of familiarity for the protagonist? I'm in. However, as mentioned earlier, this did not feature any major aspect of a story that can be classified as a crazy, mind-blowing "psychological thriller." It's not the kind of book where the readers have the ability to guess what will happen, or who is the person sending the creepy messages. It's impossible, we don't know anything. I would say that the majority of the novel's content was spent on talking about the marriage problems between Caroline and Francis, which for sure is a major point that should be focused on, but this took away from the mysterious vibe that the book was showed to have. Ugh. That really upset me.
I additionally must admit that the start of the story was quite slow. For the first half of the story, I was unable to picture why this would be a 'thriller.' Ultimately, we received hints and answers to everything (which was a twist I highly enjoyed), though, the plot caused me to lose interest for quite a while. However, the best part of the story were Fleet's characters. I felt that each of them: Carl, Caroline, Francis, and Amber, all had depth to them, and after concluding the story, I was able to identify the purpose of each of them and what role they held in the story and how they made this into an interesting domestic drama. That's what it really should be classified, instead of a thriller.
To put everything straight: this book was not what I expected. DO NOT CALL THIS A THRILLER, it is an adult drama that certainly was entertaining, but not in a mystery/thriller aspect. I'm looking forward to reading more recent 'thrillers' and hoping that they do not follow this same pattern.
*A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for a honest review. Thank you so much!*
Have you read a book that was classified under the wrong genre?
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